Disarming Libya's militias

 

By Peter Fragiskatos International affairs analyst

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The killing of US ambassador Christopher Stevens two weeks ago, along with three other Americans, has prompted authorities in Libya to take action against the militias that stand as the country's most important security threat.

Made up of former rebels who fought against the Gaddafi regime - and many others who joined when the war was finished - these organisations number into the mid to low hundreds.

While many have shown a sincere interest in providing security in the regions they control, others act according to their own rules.

Confronting their presence is therefore vital if the rule of law is to be established in Libya.

But how will this happen?

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“Start Quote

Hundreds of militias... control more than two million handguns, machine guns and assault rifles... They also possess tanks ”

End Quote

Anxious to promote a violent understanding of jihad and believed by some to be responsible for Mr Stevens's death, Ansar al-Sharia is only one example of militia lawlessness.

There are others, driven by a desire for revenge, who have carried out torture against individuals and communities suspected of being loyal to the late Libyan leader, Col Muammar Gaddafi.

And then there are the groups seeking to control the flow of petrol, illegal migrants and drugs along the border areas, a struggle fixated on profits and one that has provoked fighting between rival organisations.

The result is that Libya has become a patchwork of factions whose continued presence - one that appears to be empowering warlords over elected officials - makes it difficult to ensure the establishment and maintenance of a single body of law that can apply equally and to all.
Weapon exchange

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Guide to Libya's main militias

Eastern-based:

• Martyrs of 17 February Brigade, financed by defence ministry: 1,500-3,500 fighters
• Martyr Rafallah Shahati Battalions: 1,000 fighters

Western-based:

• Al-Zintan Revolutionaries' Military Council - detained Saif Gaddafi, led by defence minister: More than 4,000 fighters
• Sa'dun al-Suwayli Brigade - helped take Tripoli and Misrata

 

This is why recent news of militias disbanding is promising, at least at first glance.

Ansar al-Sharia and other Islamist-inspired militias in the east have announced that they will cease operations.

In the face of widespread public opposition - their headquarters were raided amid mass protests in Benghazi last weekend - they had little choice.

In Tripoli, the capital, a special wing of the beleaguered army has taken action against militias occupying parts of the city.

Libyan authorities have announced that this will continue over the course of the next few weeks.

The problem is that they are unlikely to get very far.

There are, after all, hundreds of militias commanding hundreds of thousands of fighters who, in turn, control more than two million handguns, machine guns and assault rifles seized from the Gaddafi regime or obtained from foreign sources - Qatar in particular.

They also possess tanks.

Chasing them out of cities and towns will also prove ineffective for the same reasons - the militias that agreed to disband have not surrendered their arms.

Instead, an approach that breaks the source of militia power - the control of weapons - by giving their members the option of handing in their guns in return for rewards that could secure their future might prove much more promising.

Libya battle: Gaddafi ex-stronghold Bani Walid shelled

Militias had surrounded Bani Walid amid tensions around the death of Omran Ben Shaaban

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At least five Libyans have died and dozens have been wounded in fighting around Bani Walid - a former stronghold of slain leader Muammar Gaddafi.

Militias allied to Libya's army reportedly shelled the hilltop town from three sides, prompting clashes.

The fighting came after the 50-day kidnap, shooting and torture in the town of one of the men credited with capturing Gaddafi last year.

Omran Ben Shaaban, 22, died from his injuries last month.

Many

Syria's civilians are trapped in a deadly no-man's land

By Ian Pannell BBC News, Aleppo

 

The streets of Aleppo, damaged by heavy shelling

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"We are dead." It was a terrifyingly simple assessment of the grim reality for Aleppo's residents.

Abu Stayf says he has lost his wife and six children; they were all killed when a rocket landed on his house.

Yet he refuses to leave. He sleeps in an abandoned basement on a street where rotting rubbish piles up and rubble from shelled buildings spills across the pavement.

Caught in a no-man's land between government forces and rebel fighters, he asks: "Where should I go? You'll die wherever you go. Our homes have been destroyed, our children are dead and we have no-one left."

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Bashar al-Assad is killing us even though we worshipped him and his family for 42 years”

End Quote Abu Stayf Aleppo resident

The bakery just down the road was the target of a government attack a few weeks ago in which 20 people died, according to activists.

It was the final straw for many of the residents and most of them have now fled.

But Abu Stayf won't leave. He sits on a vinyl-covered chair with two friends while artillery shells crash in neighbouring streets; the sound and fury of gun battles breaking bouts of pregnant silence.

"We have no food, no water, no electricity. There is shelling every day, bombardment every day," he says.
'Between two fires'
Abu Stayf lives on the edge of the historic old city. With the medieval citadel at its heart, the Unesco World Heritage Site used to draw thousands of tourists to Aleppo every year.

Today, it is one of many neighbourhoods that are being fought over in a vicious civil war that pitches the government of President Bashar al-Assad against the rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA).

Some of the residents who have stayed behind are unhappy with both sides. One man who did not want to give his name said: "We are between two fires, wherever the FSA goes they are a target for the regime."

Most like Abu Stayf reserve their harshest criticism for their president.

"The FSA is providing us with food, water and electricity. Bashar al-Assad is killing us; he's destroying our houses even though we worshipped him and his family for 42 years".

Fears and hopes in Turkish town scarred by Syria conflict

By James Reynolds BBC News, Akcakale, Turkey-Syria border

Akcakale border crossing between is now shut

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On the road facing the Syrian border, a single Turkish army tank sits behind a mound of earth.

Its sights point across 100 metres of scrubland towards the border.

The town of Akcakale has felt some of the effects of its neighbour's conflict. It has been hit several times by shells fired from across the border.

Muhittin Kaydi can see Syria from his front garden. He used to work as a money changer at the nearby border post.

Muhittin Kaydi says his children are now scared to play outside

But that post is now closed, and Mr Kaydi has lost his job. He finds it hard to reassure seven children that their home is safe.

"I tell them to calm down," he says, "but every time a door slams, they think it's an explosion - I swear. They are too scared to play outside."
'Up and down'
A single street away from the border, workers have put up a new blue gate at the Timucin family home.

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“Start Quote

We should not go to war with Syria. We help wounded Syrians. We're Muslims, they're Muslims”

End Quote Musa Vural Retired civil servant

On 3 October, five members of the family were killed when a shell landed in their yard. Drivers slow their cars as they go by in order to have a look at the house.

A few hundred metres away from the border in the centre of town, Mahmut Denli sits behind the counter of his jewellery shop.

Inside his shop, a small TV tuned to Bloomberg News stands on top of a safe.

"If anything happens on the border, we're the first to feel it," Mr Denli says.

"For the last month, things have been up and down. But I live here, I have my life here. How would being afraid help?"
Refugee's fears
For several weeks the sporadic shellfire kept the town's Suleyman Sah primary school closed.

"My three kids were really bored at home," Mr Denli says, "so I talked to the school's director to ask him to re-open it."

On Wednesday, the authorities decided that it was safe enough to do it.

Police and the army have stepped up security across the town

In the main yard in late afternoon, dozens of children line up to be counted by their teachers.

One class takes part in a noisy relay race - children run to touch a wall painted with a character from the Smurfs.

Across the road, two black armoured jeeps are parked outside the police station. A group of female students from a religious school chats at an outdoor tea shop.

A young man called Nuri introduces himself as a Syrian refugee from a village just across the border.

He says that he came to Turkey 10 days ago.

But he chooses not to live in one of the dozen or so refugee camps that Turkey has organised for the more than 100,000 Syrian refugees who have entered this country.

"They have cameras everywhere," Nuri alleges. He fears that the female members of his family would be mistreated inside the nearest camp on the main road outside Akcakale.

Turkey stresses that it provides humane conditions for all Syrian refugees.

A group of older men sits on tiny wooden stools in front of a tobacco stand.

"When the parliament passed its bill last week (to authorise cross-border measures against Syria), the Syrians pulled back from the border," says retired civil servant Musa Vural.

"This gave us breathing space," he says, as he rolls a cigarette from a bag of tobacco at the stand.

"We should not go to war with Syria. We help wounded Syrians. We're Muslims, they're Muslims," he adds.

Syrian opponents consider Brahimi ceasefire proposal

Video of a helicopter in flames was posted on YouTube

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The Syrian government has indicated that it is interested in exploring a temporary ceasefire proposed by the UN and Arab League envoy, Lakhdar Brahimi.

Spokesman Jihad al-Makdisi told the BBC that the government would listen to any initiative to end the crisis, but that both sides would need to be involved.

The opposition meanwhile said they would match any government ceasefire.

Dramatic video, said to have been shot in Syria, has emerged of a helicopter exploding in mid-air.

The authenticity of the footage could not be independently confirmed.

Syrian rebels told al-Jazeera TV that they had downed a Syrian army helicopter in the north-western province of Idlib.

Meanwhile, Turkey's armed forces returned fire across the border into Syria after a Syrian mortar shell landed just inside Turkey's Hatay province earlier on Wednesday.

No-one was hurt by the Syrian shell, said Turkish officials of the latest in a spate of cross-border incidents that have heightened tensions between the neighbours and prompted each to ban the other's planes from their airspace.
'Microscopic step'
Mr Brahimi wants a truce over the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Adha, which starts on 25 October, to "allow a political process to develop".

Iran police clash with protesters over currency crisis

Iran police clash with protesters over currency crisis

Riot police clashed with demonstrators in the streets of Tehran, firing tear gas, reports say

Riot police in Iran have clashed with protesters in the capital over sharp falls in the currency, the rial.

Tear gas was used to disperse the demonstrators, some of whom were setting fire to tyres and rubbish bins. There were many arrests, reports say.
Eyewitnesses told the BBC that scores of people gathered outside the central bank, calling for the governor to stand down, chanting

Anti-Christian graffiti sprayed on Jerusalem monastery

An Israeli police spokesman said they were investigating the incident

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 Vandals have spray-painted anti-Christian graffiti on the main door of a Franciscan monastery outside Jerusalem, Church officials have said.

Photographs published online showed blue graffiti denigrating Jesus at the Convent of Saint Francis on Mount Zion.

 

Syria conflict: Aleppo's souk burns as battles rage

 

The BBC's Jim Muir says the souk was once a "magnet for tourists", as amateur footage purportedly from the area showed widespread damage

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A blaze has swept though ancient markets in Aleppo, activists say, as rebels and government forces seek to gain control of Syria's largest city.

Reports say hundreds of shops in the souk, one of the best preserved in the Middle East, have been destroyed.
Unesco, which recognises Aleppo's Old City as a world heritage site, described the damage as a tragedy.
On the third day of a rebel offensive, battles broke out in the Old City and the Arkub district, reports said.
The fire, believed to have been triggered by shelling and gunfire, began on Friday but was still burning on Saturday, reports said.
"It's a big loss and a tragedy that the old city has now been affected," Kishore Rao, director of Unesco's World Heritage Centre, told the Associated Press.
'Disaster' The market stalls lie beneath the city's towering 13th Century citadel, where activists say regime troops and snipers have taken up positions.

Syria conflict: Al-Nusra Front 'captures' Yemen troops

Islamist groups like al-Nusra have claimed responsibility for numerous attacks on government targets in Syria

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The al-Nusra Front, an Islamist group fighting government forces in Syria, has reportedly posted a video saying it has captured five Yemeni soldiers sent to help quell the uprising.

The video shows five men asking Yemen to stop supporting Bashar al-Assad.

The four-minute video's authenticity has not been verified.

A Yemeni rights group said five Yemeni officers had been studying at a military academy in Aleppo but went missing in August, Reuters reported.

Iran's Fars agency sorry for running the Onion spoof story

An Iranian news agency has apologised after being fooled by a spoof story from a US satirical website.

Fars news agency said on its website that its news item "was extracted" from the Onion website on Friday, but was taken down in less than two hours.

The Onion's story claimed that rural Americans preferred Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Barack Obama.

Is a US-Iran maritime clash inevitable?

By Jonathan Marcus BBC diplomatic correspondent

Iran has been conducting exercises in the Strait of Hormuz

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In 1988, US warships clashed with Iranian forces in the Gulf. As a war of words now escalates, is there a danger that history will repeat itself?

Operation Praying Mantis is today little more than a footnote in US naval history.
But the clash between US warships and aircraft and Iranian forces in the Gulf in April 1988 could be a foretaste of the potentially larger naval clash that may be threatening as tensions in the region grow.
Back in the late 1980s, Iran and Iraq were at war. The conflict spilled over into the Gulf with the Iranians targeting shipping from countries that they believed were supporting Iraq.
In March 1987, President Ronald Reagan agreed to the re-flagging of a number of Kuwaiti tankers. Operating under US colours they would be able to be protected by US warships.
A few weeks later, one of the reflagged tankers hit an Iranian mine. A series of sporadic skirmishes ensued, culminating in April 1988 when a US warship - the USS Samuel B Roberts - was also struck by an Iranian mine and was badly damaged.

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Iranian capabilities, especially asymmetric capabilities, have improved considerably since the 1980s.”

End Quote Michael Connell Iran analyst

It was this incident that prompted Operation Praying Mantis. This involved US special forces, aircraft and warships. The aim was to teach the Iranians a lesson.

Two offshore oil platforms used to coordinate Iranian operations were destroyed while two of its warships sunk and another was badly damaged.
The conclusion was clear - Iran's conventional naval forces were no match for US sea power in a straight fight.
Simon Henderson, an expert on the Gulf based at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said that if there is to be another naval clash, "I suspect that Iran will make sure that its larger naval vessels are safe in port.
"Of course", he added, "the question then arises whether the vessels would really be safe there."

Much has changed in naval terms since the 1980s. Michael Connell, an Iran analyst at the Center for Naval Analyses, does not think the clashes of the 1980s are necessarily an indication of how any current conflict might play out.
"I don't think they are an accurate predictor for two reasons," he said.
"First, Iranian capabilities, especially asymmetric capabilities, have improved considerably since the 1980s. Second, the conflict during the tanker wars was limited in scope. It is unlikely that a naval conflict today between Iran and the US/coalition would remain limited."

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The US Navy has been preparing for the next confrontation with Iran for years - and has no intention of losing it”

End Quote Simon Henderson, Washington Institute for Near East Policy

"Asymmetric" warfare is a term we use a lot today. It essentially refers to the way a weaker adversary can attempt to counter a much stronger military player by adopting a variety of tactics and weapons systems to create an alternative to a simple ship-for-ship or plane-for-plane contest.

Iran - and especially the naval elements of its Revolutionary Guard Corps - has sought to build a new style of naval force based largely upon swarms of fast, small patrol boats and speed boats, backed up by a variety of craft capable of laying mines. These are supported by shore-based anti-shipping missiles, rockets and artillery.
So how threatening is this new kind of Iranian asymmetric force?
Mr Connell said: "It is difficult to say, because their capabilities have never been tested. That being said, they have acquired all of the right 'ingredients' for an asymmetric force and they practise and drill on a regular basis.
"To make a long story short, I don't think we can be entirely dismissive of their capabilities.
"The US Navy should be concerned. On their own, any one of the Iranian tactics (swarms, mines, etc) is not likely to be that effective."
However, Mr Connell added, it is important to bear in mind that the Iranians will probably be employing all of these tactics concurrently in a layered defence.

Iran has briefed the media about its recent exercises

"US or coalition vessels will be dealing with swarms of small craft, incoming, mines, and mini-subs, all at once in a confined operating space.
"In order to remove the mines, the US would first have to remove the other threats, a laborious process of attrition that could result in casualties on the US side."
"In a toe-to-toe conflict, the US Navy and its coalition allies will ultimately prevail. But it will take some time. The price of oil will skyrocket and the Iranians might score a lucky hit or two."
Simon Henderson is more sceptical about Iran's naval capabilities.
"These tactics are probably over-rated," he said. "The US Navy has been preparing for the next confrontation with Iran for years - and has no intention of losing it."
He is also sceptical that this would be a long drawn-out conflict.
"If there is a clash, the US will likely go in for over-kill so the chances of sporadic further clashes are very small."
Overall though, most experts I spoke to were uncertain that Iran, despite all the rhetoric, would seek to try to close the Strait of Hormuz in the current circumstances.
This, said Michael Connell, "would be to commit economic suicide". The most likely outcome, he said, is "more bluster".
Nevertheless, as the war of words escalates, the danger of a maritime clash remains all too real.

What will be the impact of the EU ban on Iranian oil?

By Jonathan Marcus BBC Defence and Diplomatic Correspondent

The presence of the US aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (pictured right) in the Strait of Hormuz is unlikely to ease tensions with Iran

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The oil ban agreed by the European Union, which will be phased in over a period of months to try to reduce the impact on some of the weaker European economies, is the most significant toughening of sanctions to date.

The EU is also to bring in restrictions on the Central Bank of Iran and to expand a range of other existing measures intended to constrain Iran's ability to do business abroad.
The new sanctions, coming just as a US naval flotilla accompanied by British and French warships is testing the freedom of passage in the Strait of Hormuz, are inevitably going to ratchet up tensions.
They raise a host of fundamental questions. What impact will the oil ban have? Is there any chance that it will encourage Iran to halt its uranium enrichment programme? And if not, could the sanctions instead bring the various parties closer to some kind of military or naval clash?
Conflicting signals
Europe accounts for about 20% of Iran's oil exports.

The sanctions are more likely to hit ordinary Iranians than the country's elite

Greece is heavily dependent on Iran, from which it buys about one third of its oil.
Italy and Spain each buy a little over 10% of their oil from Tehran. They will all now have to seek supplies elsewhere.
The ban is to be phased in to minimise disruption. And it looks pretty clear that other suppliers like the Saudis - despite Iranian threats - are willing to step up to cover the additional output required.
Nobody of course wants to see an oil crisis that might set prices spiralling.
Iran's customers in Europe are among the weakest economies in the EU. And any significant price rise would only benefit Iran's exports elsewhere.
Of course Iran's major customers are not in Europe but in Asia.
It is here that the fate of this sanctions round will be determined. The US has sought - so far with only limited success - to persuade South Korea and Japan to scale back their imports of Iranian crude.
China, which buys over one fifth of Iran's oil, is clearly the key. It is sending conflicting signals.
On the one hand, it appears to have significantly cut back on orders from Iran and sought to bolster its ties with other Gulf producers.
However, it is by no means clear if this is a desire to warn Iran diplomatically or a manoeuvre intended to strike the hardest bargain once the Iranian oil sector is under pressure.
Survival
So once the new measures are in place, how successful will they be?

The BBC's James Reynolds visits Dubai where many people export goods to Iran

Even Western diplomats are uncertain. There is no doubting that the Iranian economy will suffer. But the nuclear programme is a matter of national pride and ultimately national security.
Iran has seen the demise of regimes in Iraq and Libya and noted the survival of that in North Korea - the one so-called "rogue state" that has nuclear weapons.
Iran's rulers may well believe that having at least the potential for a nuclear bomb is something that could secure the country against outside threat.
Seen in this light, one can imagine the Iranian authorities being willing to absorb considerable economic pain to pursue their nuclear research effort.
Of course, it is the Iranian people who will suffer the consequences rather than the Iranian elite itself.

Some in the West hope for a full-fledged change of regime.
But there has always been an ambivalence in Western policy on this subject, and Iran's opposition forces have shown little sign of gaining a second wind in the wake of the upheavals of the "Arab Spring".
Escalation risk
In the short-term at least, tensions are likely to rise.
There is still uncertainty about Israel's options. Will it strike Iran's nuclear facilities in 2012? For now the Americans seem to be trying to persuade the Israelis to give sanctions and diplomatic pressure more time.
But the threat of an Israeli attack has now been replaced by a more imminent potential flashpoint - Iran's threat to close the vital artery of the Strait of Hormuz.
A clash here could so easily escalate into a broader conflict with Iran. And given the febrile state of the region, this could easily turn into a much wider war.
All the talk of potential "air strikes" against Iranian facilities are weasel words. It is war with Iran that some may be contemplating.
And the danger is that war could erupt through misunderstanding as much as by design.
The European Union's move to impose a ban on imports of Iranian oil marks a significant toughening of sanctions against Tehran.
A battery of additional measures expected to be announced will undoubtedly have an impact upon Iran's already ailing economy.

Iran claims right to retaliate, after Israel UN speech

Mr Netanyahu showed a drawing illustrating Iran's alleged progress towards nuclear weapons

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Iran has warned it is ready to retaliate against attack after Israel's prime minister urged a red line to be drawn to stop its nuclear programme.

Benjamin Netanyahu told the UN time was running out to stop Iran having enough enriched uranium for a nuclear bomb.
In response, Iran's deputy UN ambassador said his country was strong enough to defend itself.
Israel and Western countries suspect Iran is seeking nuclear weapons capability, a charge Iran denies.
Tehran says its nuclear programme is for purely peaceful purposes, such as energy and producing medical isotopes.
Iranian deputy UN ambassador Eshagh al-Habib said his country was: "strong enough to defend itself and reserves its full right to retaliate with full force against any attack".
He accused Mr Netanyahu of making "baseless allegations" in his address to the UN General Assembly in New York.
Mr Netanyahu told delegates at the annual meeting of the assembly that Iran could have enough material to make a nuclear bomb by the middle of next year, and a clear message needed to be sent to stop Tehran in its tracks.

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Analysis

Jonathan Marcus BBC Diplomatic Correspondent

---

Mr Netanyahu is a man at home in US politics and his message was more attuned to that audience. It was a message of grand simplifications: "the great battle between the modern and the medieval" - in other words between modernity and the forces of radical Islam.

This was the cue for Mr Netanyahu to move to his main focus, the potential threat from a nuclear armed Iran. The "hour was getting very late" he said.

The Israeli prime minister also twice made positive reference to US President Barack Obama's own comments and actions.

It was perhaps a realisation that the antipathy between the two leaders was reaching damaging proportions and also maybe a hint that, while still favouring Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney, Mr Netanyahu has sampled the political mood in the US and is re-balancing himself ahead of a possible second Obama victory.

"Red lines don't lead to war, red lines prevent war," he said. "Nothing could imperil the world more than a nuclear-armed Iran."

He said sanctions passed over the past seven years had not affected Tehran's programme. "The hour is very late," he told delegates. "The Iranian nuclear calendar does not take time out."
He said he was convinced that faced with a "clear red line, Iran will back down" and added that he was confident the US and Israel could chart a common path on the issue.
On Tuesday, in his own address to the General Assembly, US President Barack Obama stressed the US would "do what we must" to stop Tehran acquiring nuclear arms.
However, while the Obama administration has not ruled out a military option, it says sanctions and multilateral negotiations with Iran must still be given time to work.
Earlier this month, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the US was not prepared to commit to drawing "red lines".
On Wednesday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad accused Western countries of nuclear "intimidation".
"Continued threat by the uncivilised Zionists [Israel] to resort to military action is a clear example of this bitter reality," he told the General Assembly.
'Ethnic cleansing'
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas highlighted the Palestinians' UN status, saying he would continue to seek full membership.

President Mahmoud Abbas says a Palestinian state must be realised

But he said negotiations had begun with "regional organisations and member states" aimed at adopting a resolution making Palestine "a non-member state of the United Nations during this session".
"In our endeavour," he added, "we do not seek to delegitimise an existing state - that is Israel - but rather to assert the state that must be realised - that is Palestine."
Currently, the Palestine Liberation Organisation only has "permanent observer" status. Last year, a bid for full-member status failed because of a lack of support at the UN Security Council.
The change would allow Palestinians to participate in General Assembly debates. It would also improve their chances of joining UN agencies and the International Criminal Court.
Last year, Palestinians joined the UN cultural agency Unesco, despite Israeli and US opposition.
Mr Abbas also denounced Israeli construction in and around East Jerusalem. "It is a campaign of ethnic cleansing against the Palestinian people via the demolition of their homes," he said.

Syria 'moving chemical weapons to safety' - Panetta

Syria 'moving chemical weapons to safety' - Panetta

Fierce fighting is continuing in Aleppo

The Syrian government has moved some of its chemical weapons to safety as it battles rebel forces, US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta says.

He said there was intelligence that there had been "limited movement" to secure the chemicals, but that "the major sites still remain in place".
Syria has admitted to having a large stockpile of chemical weapons.
US President Barack Obama has warned Damascus it would be held accountable if it uses them.
Mr Panetta told a news conference at the Pentagon on Friday: "We continue to have a concern about the security of the CBW (chemical and biological weapons) sites."
But he said the major sites "still remain secured by the Syrian military".
Mr Panetta added: "There has been some intelligence that with regards to some of these sites that there has been some movement in order for the Syrians to better secure... the chemicals."

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New 'Sars-like' coronavirus identified by UK officials

By Michelle Roberts Health editor, BBC News online

 In both cases to date, the infection was acquired in the Middle East

A new respiratory illness similar to the Sars virus that spread globally in 2003 and killed hundreds of people has been identified in a man who is being treated in Britain.

The 49-year-old man, who was transferred to a London hospital by air ambulance from Qatar, is the second person confirmed with the coronavirus.

The first case was a patient in Saudi Arabia who has since died.

'Serious fiscal crisis' in Palestinian territories

The World Bank concludes that more private sector investment is needed to achieve sustainable growth

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The World Bank has warned that the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank faces a $400m (£246m) budget shortfall and asked donors to act urgently.

Its latest report on the Palestinian economy says there is a "deepening fiscal crisis" and "worrying signs of economic slowdown".
Israel is criticised for stifling growth in the 60% of the West Bank which comes fully under its control.
The report comes amid protests by Palestinian over rising living costs.
Last week, the Palestinian Authority's Prime Minister, Salam Fayyad, was forced to cut value-added tax (VAT) and fuel prices after several days of strikes and violent demonstrations.
President Mahmoud Abbas also proposed cancelling the 1994 Paris Protocol on economic co-operation with Israel, which was signed following the Oslo Accords.
'Barriers to development' The World Bank report says that the finances of the PA, which governs the West Bank, have been hit by cuts in donations and the failure of donors, including the US and Arab countries, to meet their pledges.

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“Start Quote

Donors do need to act urgently in the face of a serious fiscal crisis facing the PA in the short term”

End Quote Mariam Sherman World Bank country director

At the same time there has been slow economic growth that reduced revenues, and higher than expected expenditure on loans, it adds. The PA has nearly $2bn (£1.2bn) of debt.

The World Bank concludes that more private sector investment is needed to achieve sustainable economic growth in the Palestinian territories.
However, it says this is hampered by Israeli restrictions, most notably in what is known as Area C of the West Bank. which is where most of the land, water and other natural resources are found. The Oslo peace accords placed the area under full Israeli administrative and military control.
Israel says the restrictions are necessary for its security.
"Donors do need to act urgently in the face of a serious fiscal crisis facing the PA in the short term," said Mariam Sherman, World Bank country director for the West Bank and Gaza.
"But even this financial support, sustainable economic growth cannot be achieved without a removal of the barriers preventing sustainable private sector development, particularly in Area C."
The report is published just ahead of a meeting of international donors in New York next week.
The PA has warned for months of a major budget shortfall. On several occasions in the past year, 150,000 civil servants have not been paid on time, says the BBC's West Bank correspondent, Jon Donnison.
Rising prices of food and fuel also contributed to widespread social unrest. Although the average wage for Palestinians in the West Bank is around $20 (£12.20) a day, and the price of fuel is similar to in Europe.
Our correspondent says that some fear if economic conditions do not improve it could bring an end to several years of relative stability.

Lebanon Shia Mekdad clan charged over kidnappings

The Mekdad clan have been angered by the capture of one of their number in Syria

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A military prosecutor in Lebanon has charged six members of a powerful Shia Muslim clan with forming an armed group for terrorist purposes and kidnappings.

The Mekdad clan last month took dozens of Syrians and a Turkish businessman hostage in Lebanon after a family member was abducted by Syrian rebels.

The Mekdads' hostages were freed last week in a raid by the Lebanese army.

The men charged on Tuesday, including the clan's spokesman Maher Mekdad, could face life in prison if convicted.

Syria warplane 'bombs Raqqa petrol station queue'

 

Unverified footage shows what opposition activists say is a petrol station bombed by government forces

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A Syrian warplane has attacked a petrol station in the north-east of the country, killing at least 30 people, opposition activists say.

A rebel group said people had been queuing for petrol and diesel near Ain Issa at the time.

The village is some 20 miles (32km) from the Tal al-Abyad border post, seized by rebels on Wednesday after a lengthy battle with government forces.

The number of casualties was expected to rise, reports said.

Israeli air strike kills two Palestinians in Gaza

The strike hit a four-wheel-drive near the Egyptian border, officials say

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Two members of the ruling Hamas security forces have been killed in an Israeli air strike in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian officials say.

They died when their car was hit in Rafah, on the border with Egypt, Palestinian sources said.

Israel said it hit "two terror operatives", thwarting an attack which was in "a very advanced stage of planning".

Judge denies actress' bid to remove anti-Islam film

Cindy Garcia is also suing the film's suspected producer

A California judge has denied an actress' request to remove from YouTube an anti-Islam video that sparked riots in the Muslim world.

Cindy Lee Garcia says she has received death threats over the film trailer, in a lawsuit against Google, which owns YouTube, and a man linked to the film.

Garcia said she had been misled by the maker of the amateur movie and was unaware of its anti-Muslim content.

Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, the trailer's alleged producer, is in hiding.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Luis Lavin said in his ruling that he had rejected Garcia's request partly because the man who is believed to have made the film had not been served a copy of the lawsuit.

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